Australia: 'Petals of Peace' Cultural Performance

The Sunshine Plaza came alive with song and dance, as the ‘Petals of Peace' Cultural Event, showcasing the beauty of traditional Chinese dance, music and Falun Dafa exercises delighted shoppers at the Sunshine Coast's largest Shopping Centre on Jan 3, 2004. This event allowed hundreds of people to witness the beauty of Falun Dafa through our presentation and heartfelt message.

Exercise demo	Graceful Fairy Dancers
Colourful Fan Dancers	Umbrella dance
Vocal Group "Returning"

The cultural event was dedicated to 3-year-old Australian-Chinese girl named Fadu who lost her father due to Falun Dafa's persecution in China. A brightly coloured pink and gold backdrop read "Petals of Peace" and "Falun Dafa around the world" and colourful traditional costumes adorned the stage. The highlights of the entertainment included Chinese dances such as the Lotus dance, Umbrella dance, and Fan dance. An ensemble of four Western practitioners performed several original compositions including the inspirational song “Petals of Peace", with the theme of compassion for all children, specifically written for the ‘Petals of Peace’ project. Another piece, "Call to Heart", offers a message of hope, calling to the world's people to find compassion in their hearts for the millions of innocent people in China. During the song, three practitioners performed a moving dance depicting the beauty of Falun Dafa in contrast to the brutal persecution.

Adults and children alike were delighted to take home a beautiful lotus flower as a reminder of the event. The cultural event was a part of the ‘Petals of Peace’ initiative that we have been sharing with our local community over recent months.

We have held numerous ‘Petals of Peace’ origami lotus folding workshops and displays at local libraries, primary schools and shopping centres. Both young and old within our local community have enjoyed folding the paper lotus flowers with the message of peace for a brighter future for all children still living under the persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

This approach of highlighting little Fadu's story (the inspiration behind the ‘Petals of Peace’ project) has quite naturally led into clarifying the facts about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China in a deep and effective way. People's hearts are truly touched when they hear about little Fadu's father's tragic loss of life for simply wanting to uphold the principles of ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance'.

The beauty of Falun Dafa certainly moved the hearts of many people at this grand event.